The Spirit of Snowboarding: Kevin Pearce

In a world so often shaped by super achievements, dangerous feats, and peer recognition, it is refreshing when someone like Kevin Pearce comes along and puts it all into perspective. Sidelined by a gnarly slam en route to the 2010 Olympic games, “KP” spent the better part of five months in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. He was told that snowboarding, and possibly even walking, was out of the question. As an incredibly gifted young rider, he once took down the undefeatable Shaun White. As an ambassador to snowboarding, he’s taking down the walls of limitations. With humility and an infallibly positive outlook, Pearce is an inspiration to anyone who has ever faced adversity. An early support slogan from his “Frends” once read, “I ride for Kevin.” Now it reads, “I ride WITH Kevin!”

He has a perspective on life that I wish all human beings had. The world would be a better place if we were all like Kev.
– Jake Blauvelt

“I never took myself to the place where I could doubt it. Snowboarding is part of me, so it just never occurred to me to start thinking like, “It’s all over, you are going to have to find something else.” I knew that because of how much I loved it, and what it means to me, and what It does to me, that no matter what anybody said or thought, I KNEW that snowboarding would never leave me. I knew I was going to make it happen, without a shadow of a doubt.

“If you love something so much — that right there — is how you are going to be successful at it. It’s amazing how things will happen that you WANT to have happen if you dedicate your life to them.”
– Kevin Pearce